1. Field of the Invention
The subject disclosure relates to a system for securing a suture, and more particularly, to a surgical apparatus for applying a deformable suture clip to a suture used to close a surgical incision or wound formed in a blood vessel or body tissue.
2. Background of the Related Art
Sutures have long been used to close wounds and surgical incisions in body tissue. It is common practice to secure a suture in body tissue by tying one or more knots therein. Knots are time consuming to tie, difficult to form in small body cavities and are a relatively unreliable means of securely maintaining a suture in tissue. In view of these shortcomings, various devices and fasteners have been developed to positively secure a suture in place following a surgical procedure.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,077,277 to Mollenauer et al. discloses a device for joining suture segments together. The device has a pair of grasping jaws with heating surfaces thereon configured to weld the suture together. U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,608 to Ek et al. discloses a suture collet that consists of an outer member defining a passage for receiving a suture. An inner member is threaded into the outer member to retain the suture therein. U.S. Pat. No. 5,520,702 to Sauer et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 6,099,553 to Hart et al. each disclose cinches to retain a suture used to close an incision in body tissue.
Certain surgical procedures, such as angioplasty procedures, require the creation of a small percutaneous incision or opening in the femoral artery. Typically, at the conclusion of the procedure, the incision or opening in the blood vessel is closed by applying a fair amount of pressure to the wound until hemostasis occurs. This technique is time consuming, uncomfortable and can cause thrombosis, thereby presenting a danger to the patient. Fortunately, surgical instruments have been developed to mechanically close incisions in blood vessels, thus avoiding the need for the direct application of pressure to close the wound.
A particularly useful device for mechanically closing an incision in the wall of a blood vessel following a surgical procedure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,454,777 to Green, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. This device applies a suture to the walls of a blood vessel to close an incision formed therein. Once the suture is placed and the apparatus is withdrawn from the incision site, a knot is formed in the suture to secure it in place. However, because the procedure is performed percutaneously through a small entrance wound in the patient's leg, properly tying a knot to securely fasten the suture and close the incision is a difficult task. For that matter, placing a clip on the suture at the site of the incision in the blood vessel wall is even more difficult, because there is no direct line of sight to ensure the proper placement of the clip.
Clearly, there is a need in the art for an apparatus that is adapted and configured to effectively and accurately apply a clip to a suture used to close an incision formed in the wall of a blood vessel.